Rabbi Jaech's Blog

My cell phone rang as I was waiting for a funeral to begin.  On my way to the cemetery, I returned the call.  One of my colleagues from the Peekskill Area Pastor’s Association called to invite me to speak at PAPA’s Interfaith Thanksgiving service on Sunday, November 24th.   She ended her message with: “Please say yes!”

I said yes.  I admire and appreciate my colleague and wanted to help.  Also, I assumed that she wanted my talk to reflect the theme of Thanksgiving:  gratitude.  No problem talking about that. 

My assumption was wrong.  The topic of the service, selected by my colleagues in the PAPA leadership, is “The Reason to Believe.” In other words, they wanted me to speak about the reason to believe in God.  

That’s a problem for me.  I left the faith of my childhood because it stressed that God was beyond dispute and that THE reason to believe in this God was to avoid eternal damnation.  “The Reason to Believe” is the last thing I would choose to speak about.  It is not an authentic representation of my spiritual path.  

I don’t know what I will say at the PAPA Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on November 24th.  But wrestling with what to say seems important and worthwhile. So that’s what I’m doing. 

You are invited to attend and hear what I come up with. The service will begin at 3:00 PM at The Peekskill Presbyterian Church, 705 South Street.  Cantor Fogelman will be participating too.  We would love to see you there.